


Winter

by crazyrandomhappenklance (miles_from_home)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 1 kid does something I don't recommend, Alternate Universe - Elementary School, Blushing, Christmas, First Meetings, I'm Not Ashamed, Kid doesn't end up in hospital, M/M, Nativity Play, So much I'm ashamed, Teacher!Keith, Teachingassistant!KatieHolt, Uncle Lance (Voltron), inspired by a Tumblr chat, just lots of cuteness, unlike mine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-25 19:24:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17127299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miles_from_home/pseuds/crazyrandomhappenklance
Summary: It's Mr Kogane's first time at producing the school nativity play and his lead actor is missing.It's Uncle Lance's first time at being fully in charge of his niece and nephew, and he's panicked.





	Winter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [i_write_shakespeare_not_disney](https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_write_shakespeare_not_disney/gifts).



> *Formally known as "Merry Klancemas! (The Nativity, The Dinosaur and the Star)" and previously written as a one shot, but I heard y’all wanted more, so I’m willing to oblige :) Unfortunately, you’ll need to wait until after I’ve finished Front and Centre because I’m desperate to get the rest of that story out!  
> I swore I wasn't going to write ANYTHING but Front and Centre until it was finished, that was until I was reading some interactions on i-write-shakespeare-not-disney's Tumblr discussing Christmas fics where she made a comment about a nativity and my head spiralled into... this.  
> So I'm gifting it to her for Christmas, because she helps me more than she knows and because she’s inspiring and gifts us with her amazing craft. This is my way of giving back - so thank you and Merry Christmas! :)

Keith was tired. It was the Thursday before Christmas, the last day of term, and as per school tradition, it was the evening performance of their Nativity play.

He’d spent the past two months building up to this moment; his nerves were shot and his normally cheerful, calm mask was slipping.

Weeks of writing the script; weeks of making costumes and props; weeks of painting backdrops; weeks of painfully trying to get his class to remember their lines and cues. All that hard work and stress had led up to what was going to be the next hour and fifteen minutes.

The kids were nearly at fever-pitch in the classroom that they were gathered in; he got that creeping sense of intuition that it was going to descend into chaos if he didn’t do something about it and promptly. He stood in the centre of the room with his clipboard tight in one hand and raised his other hand in the air; a silent signal for them all to stop what they were doing and pay attention. The room gradually quieted down until all eyes were on him.

“Thank you. Right, now,” he addressed the room, “who all has their costumes on?” He looked around the room to see a show of hands in the air. He took his time so as to make sure all hands were up. Good. “Good,” he said aloud, “now, who all has their props?” There was a rustle around the room as crooks were lifted and gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh were located and passed about until everyone had yet again put their hands in the air. Good. “Good.” He was going to get through this. Just a bit more and it would be all over.

A hand shot up. “Sir, where’s Silvio?”

His eyes swept the room. _Shit! Where was he?_ Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen him all night. Oh, no, no, no, no! This couldn’t be happening. Silvio was playing Joseph! Typical, it couldn’t have been a sheep or something. _Crap!_

He ran his hand through his dark hair, from the roots at the front to the nape of his neck, giving the ends a little shake as he tried not to panic or show his concerns to the class who were starting to chat and fidget amongst themselves again.

“All right, class?” He looked around the room one final time, just to make sure he wasn’t under a desk or something, “I want everyone to pick a book from the library corner and sit down to read for five minutes, got it?” There were a few grumbles but a faint “Yes, sir” came back to him.

He headed out of the room in search of the Principle, he was really loathe to do this, because this was his first year as a probationary teacher; he had been trying hard to do everything right and so far, up until now, he’d done a good job. He felt hot and a little tight in the chest as he half walked, half skipped, trying not to run down the corridor towards the main reception area where he could hear parents already making their way into the building. He rounded the corner of the corridor abruptly and his head collided with something hard and tan.

_“Ow!”_

_“Ow!”_

Keith clutched his head and rubbed hard, looking at the other man who was doing an almost mirror action. He heard a small giggle coming from below.

“I’m really sorry…” Keith began. The other man was talking at the same time,

“Jeee- rusalem artichokes!” He recovered quickly, regarding the small boy who was holding his hand. It was such a ridiculous thing to say, Keith let out a short laugh in spite of himself. The other man looked up at him then, a slightly puzzled look on his face, but then broke out in a large grin. It was one of the most genuine smiles Keith had ever seen. He’d almost forgotten what he was in a rush for, when a small voice piped up from below.

“Hi, Mr Kogane.”

Keith looked down and the tightness in his chest released, it was Silvio. Everything was saved! There was still just enough time to get him into his costume before curtain call.

“Hi Silvio! Sheesh! You had me worried for a minute there, we can’t start the show with out our star performer!” He looked up at the man holding the boys hand, who was barely, yet frantically, shaking his head and trying to convey something urgent by lifting his brows high and flashing his blue eyes at him desperately. He looked back at the small boy who’s expression was now tense.

“Hey, why don’t you go on ahead to room 2C, that’s where the rest of the class are.”

The boy reluctantly detached his hand and adjusted his small backpack on his shoulder, a small dinosaur clutched between his fingers. His face was half hidden, but Keith could see he looked troubled at letting go, “I’ll be along in a minute, I… just want to have a quick word with your dad first.” Both the blue eyed man and Silvio snorted a laugh at that.

“He’s not my Papá, Mr Kogane, He’s my Tío Lance!” For a brief moment the small boy’s eyes brightened and they shared a smile.

“On you go, _nene. Acuerdate lo q dije, esta noche va a ver dos estrellas en el escenario._ ”

Keith didn’t let on that he had understood, he figured his uncle had said it in Spanish to keep it as a private moment between the two, but he had said it with such fondness for his nephew that it made his heart squeeze a bit, the affection mixed with that beautiful accent kind of gave him goosebumps as well, but he ignored that.

When Silvio was out of sight, Lance launched into a sudden out-pour of panic. “Oh, my god! I am so sorry we’re late, Silvio started to get cold feet and my sister is away on business right now and she left me in charge and we’ve been rehearsing his lines all week and he’s got it nailed, but he started to panic yesterday and he’s done nothing but worry about it since he got up this morning and I’ve been trying to convince him he’ll be fine, but I’ve never had to do anything like this before and I didn’t know if I was saying the right things, or making it worse- “

Keith placed a hand either side of the man’s shoulders, his left hand still awkwardly holding the clipboard, and smiled at him.

“Hey, hey, chill!” He laughed, wishing it would be as easy for him to take his own advice, “he’s bound to feel nervous, but that’s okay, that’s a good thing. Don’t worry, I’ll give him a pep talk and he’ll be fine.” Keith said it with such conviction that he was almost believing himself.

Lance took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His shoulders lifted in a short laugh that made Keith suddenly conscious that he was still holding them, so he dropped them back to his sides. Lance smiled at him, looking a lot less tense than he had been.

“Phew, sorry about that! I honestly don’t know how my sister does it, I’ve looked after them before, but never been the, like, full-time boss or whatever, and man, is it tough!”

“Well, practice makes perfect!” He replied, cringing inside from his stupid teacher-y comment. He felt a flush coming over his cheeks and realised he was grinning stupidly, although Lance seemed polite enough to grin back. He ducked his head, feeling awkward suddenly, and cleared his throat.

“Well, I’d better get... back stage, it’s... nearly time…” he swung his hips in the direction of the corridor he’d come from and thumbed over his shoulder. Lance looked like he just snapped out of a daze and glanced about the corridor sheepishly.

“Um, right, yeah. Thanks, Mr Korgani” He said, turning to make his way to the assembly hall.

“It- it’s Kogane – _Keith,_ ” he added from out of nowhere. “You can call me Keith.”

“Oh. Okay, thanks Keith. Good luck.”

They both turned and parted company. Keith glanced at his watch and gawked when he saw the hands further along than he had anticipated. His feet sped up a little more, but he was careful when he turned the corners this time, he lifted a hand to the spot on his head that had made contact with the other and it tingled under his fingers. His stomach tingled a bit too. His mind wandered back to the whole encounter; the bump; the long fingers rubbing a matching spot; the intense blue eyes; the charming bright smile; the cute fluster…

Keith came to an abrupt stop outside the classroom door. He was unexpectedly hit with the realisation that he’d actually been flirting with one of his kids’ uncles. _What the hell?_

He didn’t have time to think about it right now, he had a Joseph to de-stress and a show to put on.

He was surprised to see that the room was actually quite calm and the kids were either sitting in the reading corner bent over books or round one of the large tables drawing pictures with the coloured pencils. He was relieved and thankful when he turned fully into the room and spotted one of the classroom assistants, Miss Holt, sitting at the desk helping Silvio finish up putting on his costume. He mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ when she looked up at him entering the room and she grinned. He walked across and crouched down next to Silvio so he was at his eye level. “Hey, you’re looking sharp, Joseph, are you ready to rock that stage?” He encouraged.

Silvio looked down at his costume then slowly lifted his fist out in front of them both. He stole a sideways glance at Miss Holt, who gave him a small nod. “Miss Holt gave me a lucky penny.” He uncurled his fingers to reveal an oval-shaped piece of metal sitting on his palm. “She said all the best actors have them hidden on them and that it helps them to remember their lines.”

“Wow!” Keith lifted his eyes wide with amazement, “that’s incredible!” He breathed, in a slightly over-the-top manner. He glanced at the assistant who shared a knowing look with him, “Do you know what, though? I’m sure you’d do a fine job, whether you had a lucky penny or not. You got this.” And he held out his balled-up hand for a fist-bump. Silvio grinned and bumped fists happily, keeping the penny tight in his grip and walking off to join his friends. Keith glanced at the clock on the wall and realised it was time.

He raised his hand in the air for attention again, and instructed the students to gather everything they needed and line up by the door. An excited hum buzzed around the room as they all made their way to assemble like they had been asked.

“Lucky penny?” Keith whispered to Miss Holt.

“He got himself in a right state because he said he’d lost his dinosaur. He swears he had it when he came in, but everyone’s had a good look for it and it hasn’t turned up. I went to get a tissue for him out of my bag and I spotted the lucky penny in the side pocket whilst I was looking. I got it in a museum in Europe, one of those machines you put a cent in, turn the handle and it squashes it flat? I’d more or less forgotten it was there.” She gave a small shrug. Keith nodded his approval and straightened up to make his way out the room and lead the ensemble up the steps that led to the back of the stage.

He reminded them all that they had to be on their best behaviour and to keep quiet so the audience wouldn’t hear them, _and absolutely no peeking round the curtain_ , he warned. He wished them all luck and moved around the red draping fabric to stand on the other side and address the audience.

Keith waited until the chatter died down to silence, then thanked everyone for coming out to support their children at what was a busy time of year for everyone. He thanked the individual teachers who had pitched in their spare time to lend a hand in the preparations and thanked the music teacher for providing the piano accompaniment. He then introduced the name of the play and stepped down into the audience to take up his place at the foot of the stage so that he could give direction and cues if need be.

He spotted Lance in the front row sitting next to a young girl who he knew to be Silvio’s sister, Nadia. He noted with amusement that he still looked wracked with nerves and his fingers were dancing restlessly on his thigh. He looked up at that moment and caught his glance, Keith tried to pass his smile off as something that had been there before he’d noticed him, and Lance lifted his hand slightly and gave a little wave, and god, if it wasn’t the cutest thing that made his heart flutter. He felt the blush come up his cheeks again as he shamelessly couldn’t keep his grin from turning into a smile, so he quickly turned and ducked his head again, not before noticing the similar smile that spread across Lance’s face. He took up his small seat at the front of the audience, near the middle and forced himself to focus.

He nervously ran his hand through his hair again, this time wincing slightly at the sharp pain from the bruise that was forming near the edge of his scalp. His hands wanted to click the top of his pen with nerves, so he tucked it behind his ear to avoid the temptation.

The curtain pulled back to reveal three angels perched on a cloud at the side of the stage. These were the narrators for the evening. They passed the single microphone between each other as they took it in turns to say their lines. He could make out the occasional coo of a parent when one of their children made an appearance on the stage and the quiet, nervous chuckles that started when one of the children missed their mark or forgot to come on stage. It was all going really well until the three Kings made their entrance at the lowly stable. Joseph suddenly cried out, stood up and called to his teacher,-

“Mr Kogane! The penny’s gone!”

There were some hushed whispers around the room as everyone wondered what he’d meant. Keith fought the urge to panic as he watched Silvio’s bottom lip began to quiver. Silvio squinted past the bright lights looking desperately between his teacher and his uncle. He pushed past the shepherds and made his way to the edge of the stage. Keith quickly got to his feet and met him at the edge of the platform.

Silvio held his open hand out between them, showing it’s emptiness. “Hey, buddy it’s okay, you’re doing great and that wasn’t the penny doing all that, that was all you.” Keith could see by the expression on his face that his words were having little impact, his eyes were darting from his to just over his shoulder and back in rapid flicks.

Keith took a deep breath, partly for Silvio; partly for himself, looked him steadily in the eye and in a quiet voice he said, “ _Puede a ver dos estrellas, pero solo veo una; ya lo tienes._ ”

He pulled the pen from behind his ear and held the small boy’s hand in his own. Very gently he ran the ink over his palm; over the space where an oval imprint could still be seen he carefully drew a star. Silvio watched, and when his teacher lifted the pen from his skin he stared at it for a moment then carefully curled his fingers around it and grinned. With a quick nod he stood and made his way back to his spot by the manger.

Sighing relief, he turned to go back to his chair, only to find a pair of bright blue eyes staring at him in something like awe. He hadn’t realised that Lance had also made his way to the stage and must have been standing behind him the whole time; Silvio’s eyes had been flitting between himself and his uncle. Keith felt himself burning up under that gaze of amazement and although he could have stood there all night like that, there was a show to do.

Keith nodded to Lance to let him know it was alright to return to his seat and he blinked owlishly, before finally comprehending his gesture and he blushed a beautiful shade of crimson that couldn’t be hidden under the harsh stage lights. It made Keith a little giddy as he returned to his seat and signalled to the children on stage to continue, giving King Number Three his cue.

The play continued to its conclusion, the parents applauded thunderously and the children sang a round of ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ as the adults all filtered out into the foyer to wait on their children and chat over mince pies and coffee.

Mr Kogane whooped when he finally got all the children back in the classroom and they all cheered too. Miss Holt laughed as he got them all to stand in a line and hold their hands out so he could run passed and high-five them in a row. He was so proud of them all and he told them so.

The next half hour was taken up by freeing arms stuck in sleeves, swapping mixed up T-shirts and locating lost shoes. One by one they filtered out the door, back to their parents when they were done.

Silvio was the last one left in the room. Although he was ready to go, he was ducking under the tables and Keith guessed he was still looking for his dinosaur.

“I’m sure it hasn’t gone far,” he tried to reassure him, “it’ll probably turn up in the morning.”

Silvio looked at his teacher with a look of disappointment, however a big smile broke out across his face when he saw his uncle appear at the door. He ran towards him and nearly knocked him over with the force at which he barrelled into him. Lance laughed as he bent down and threw his arms around his shoulders.

“Hey! There’s my star!” He said, looking up and giving Keith a smile and a look of indebted gratitude. Keith tried not to fluster and gave him a smile in return. “What’s the hold up, _nene?_ ” He asked.

“We were just looking for Silvio’s toy, a dinosaur, right?” Silvio nodded.

Lance chuckled and looked down sympathetically at his nephew. “You’re having a bad day for loosing things, huh?” Silvio nodded, he was looking tired. “So, what’s this about a magic penny?” He directed the question more towards Keith.

Keith took a few steps towards them. “Well, Miss Holt, our classroom assistant, gave Silvio a lucky penny when she couldn’t find his dinosaur; they help actors to remember their lines, you know?” And he winked at Lance to play along, however Lance just stared at him and swallowed perceptibly. A beat later, he managed to compose himself and focus back again to what Keith had said.

“Right, _right!_ ” He agreed, “So, what happened to it?” Lance wondered, Keith did too, seeing as the kid had been gripping it so tight.

Silvio stared down at his shoes, guiltily. “I was so worried about forgetting my lines, I thought the penny might work better if I put it in my mouth and… I… “

“You _swallowed it?!_ ” Lance dropped quickly to his knees and was holding the boys face, moving it backwards and forwards as if it was going to somehow reappear. “What…?” He looked at Keith with desperation, Keith couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing. Lance frowned at him, not appreciating the humour of the situation. “What do I _do?_ ” He implored, “My sister is going to kill me if I have to tell her I’m taking him to the hospital!” Lance was looking a little frantic.

Keith stifled his laugh, realising that it wasn’t helping. He knelt down next to Silvio. “Did it go all the way down or can you still feel it?” Keith asked, sounding more level again.

Silvio thought. “I think it went all the way down, I can’t feel any thing.” He answered honestly.

“Well that’s good news. Guess you’ll just have to wait a day or two to see it again.” Keith grinned.

Lance seemed to relax a little, “So, no hospital trip, then?” He asked hopefully.

“Nah, it should be fine and pass straight through, unless it hurts or doesn’t reappear; it’s pretty harmless, it happens all the time.” Keith said with a look of wisdom about these things.

Then he had an after thought, “You didn’t put your dinosaur in your mouth too, did you?” He sounded a bit more concerned this time, but was relived when the little boy shook his head. “Alright then, but no more putting things in your mouth that don’t belong there, okay?” Silvio nodded.

“I miss my dinosaur, will he be here all on his own for the holidays?”

Keith picked his words carefully, “Well, there’s no school for you tomorrow, but, unfortunately for me, I still have to come in to strip the classroom for next term. I’ll bet he’ll show up then once the cleaners have been round. How about I give you a phone when he reappears?”

Keith looked up at Lance, belatedly thinking he might have overstepped the mark. Lance took a moment to process, then quickly grabbed a coloured pencil off the table and a scrap of paper. He jotted down his phone number and held it out to Keith, who took it a little too quickly like it might suddenly disappear.

“My- “ he cleared his throat and started again, his face flushed and unable to look Keith in the eye, “My number, you know… in case you find it… or something…”

Keith stared at the bit paper in his hand, willing it not to shake like he felt the rest of him do.

 _…Or_ something _… he’d said that, right?_   The corner of Keith’s mouth twitched. He bit his bottom lip in an attempt to rein himself in. He was going to scour the entire school for that dinosaur if it killed him. He glanced up shyly at Lance from through his bangs, “Sure, or…. Something…” his voice sounded quiet as he focused on keeping it steady, his heart was thumping so hard in his chest he thought it was going to bruise him.

Lance exhaled audibly, like he’d been holding it and then there was that beautiful smile on his face again that did funny things to Keith’s insides. They both stared at each other until they were interrupted by Silvio tugging on his sleeve, ”Where’s Nadia?” He said, sleepily.

Lance’s eyes flew open in horror. “Oh, my gosh! I left her to wait in the foyer! She was eating mince pies, I hope she hasn’t eaten too many, the last thing I need is her throwing up in the car!” Lance hurriedly picked up Silvio and rushed for the door. He threw his head back round the door and called “Nice to have met you, Keith!”

Keith listened to their conversation disappearing down the corridor,

“Keith? No,  _Tío_ , his name is Mr Kogane! I think he likes you."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you have all had a good Christmas and enjoyed this blushfest!
> 
> For those wondering about the Spanish, Lance told Silvio, "Just remember what I said, tonight there will be two stars on the stage"
> 
> and Keith told him on the stage, "There may be two stars, but I see only one; you've got this".
> 
> The dinosaur did turn up the next day...
> 
> Come find me on Tumblr (crazyrandomhappenklance) for regular updates on the multi-chapter fic I'm currently working on, "Front and Centre". I'm very chatty!


End file.
